Well either way he is done as a ref now. Either he lied or he’s been told he’s lied because of inconvlusive video. You can’t see context in that clip. Archer could have threatened him for example before it
1 Like
Irrespective of impact levels to me He clearly adjusts his run to ‘catch ‘ the ref in some manner.not a 96 week ban but there’s something in it to be addressed for me
1 Like
Yeah he adjusted his run to “run into” him but a 96 week ban is crazy.
1 Like
If he told him before hand he was going to do it, it isn’t. Intimidating a ref is abhorrent, there’d be no games without officials.
Soccer and GAA are miles behind rugby in respecting the officials
You hit the nail on the head, we are missing the context.
Sure you could play this “if he said this” game forever - was this in the ref’s report or something?
I don’t know mate. People are vilifying the referee without context. I havent seen the report and neither have you yet you’re happy enough to blame the ref
1 Like
On the basis of the practical evidence put in forward of us, I’m not sure what else you expect. Making up imaginary evidence to justify what the ref did isn’t any better.
Yes, we are missing the context being thought up by a couple of TFK posters for whatever reason. That context.
Ok matlock.
Better luck next time mate.
Are you chuffed?
What a knob 
1 Like
The video from the other angle is damning
The 96 week penalty is for the category of offence rather than the severity of the “assault”, bit of a red herring
1 Like
When the 
speaks, you listen
Why Diarmuid Connolly quit Dublin - ‘I didn’t have the fire anymore… that died out’
Donnchadh Boyle
June 28 2023 02:30 AM
Fitting so, on this week of weeks for the football championship and ahead of the renewal of the rivalry of rivalries, Dublin versus Mayo, two of the main protagonists from that absorbing feud came together.
Save for their short stint together in the International Rules series in 2015, both Lee Keegan and Diarmuid Connolly haven’t been in the same room or shared a conversation since their duels were part of the national discourse.
It might come as a surprise to many that even when they were finding ways to get the edge on each other, it never went to verbals.
“I don’t think that’s his nature, though. He was more of a physical, hands-on sort of player. He wasn’t a guy that was in your ear,” Connolly says.
“I did mark players, a few of the Donegal lads down the years, that would be in your ear more so than being physical, trying to get in your head, but Lee was never like that.
“Both of them had their challenges to be fair, but what Lee did was way more effective than what other players did. Like, if you’re just talking in my ear and I’m getting the better of you, you’re not getting in. Whereas if I’m not playing well and you’re in my ear, well then, that can curtail you a little bit. But he was never like that.”
Connolly has existed mostly in the shadows since he stepped away from the Dublin set-up for the second and final time in 2019. One of the most lauded talents of his generation, being away from the focus that comes with being part of the Dublin machine sits easy with him.
But does any part of him miss it?
“No,” he says flatly.
“I finished up in ’18 and made my peace. I was done with it. Obviously, I came back in ’19, late in the season in ’19, and I knew. I had sat down with my family, a couple of my close friends, the management team and a lot of the guys on the team and made the decision to come back for a couple of months. But I knew that that’s all it was.
“There’s a lot of miles on the clock. And also, I wanted to pursue other angles, other parts of my life as well, and a lot of that took a hit by playing for Dublin for so long. The time and effort that you put into it, I don’t think I had the fire anymore either.
“I think that kind of died out a little bit and when that happens, in my opinion, if that happens to a player, you kind of have to take a step back. When I came back in ’19, I wasn’t the same player I was in ’17 or ’16 or the years previous.
“I was the one driving the standards. I was the one doing the extra stuff. I was the one getting up early in the morning, but I wasn’t doing that. And it’s not a mindset thing, it’s something that changed, do you know that sort of way? I saw the bigger picture and, yeah, I’d enough of it at that stage.”
He admits now that being at the centre of storms didn’t sit well with him. There were the Keegan duels and the infamous DRA hearing that ran to the small hours of the morning of the 2015 All-Ireland semi-final, where he eventually escaped censure after being sent off for striking Keegan.
“I was in the Regency until four in the morning … I was wrecked. I came off after 50 minutes, I think. I probably shouldn’t have started, really. There was just so much that week, all the energy was sapped out of me. We were there until stupid o’clock. I still give out to Shane O’Hanlon about this. He rang me at four o’clock that morning with the result. But sure, then I couldn’t sleep for the next two hours because you were so excited, do you know what I mean? If he f**king waited until the next morning, at least I might have got a bit of sleep.”
In 2017, he was in the headlines again, picking up a lengthy ban for a push on linesman Ciarán Branagan. The following year he cut ties and headed to play with Donegal Boston for a summer.
“I would say for anybody who gets the opportunity, they should go and try to do it. Even though it might hurt your team or whatever, but in the broader scheme of things, I think it’s something that’s very important for lads to be doing.”
These days he’s a hurler. Connolly is 36 next month but returned to the Vincent’s hurling set-up on the ask of Pat Gilroy.
He’s hopeful the current generation of Dublin footballers can get over the line on Sunday. But for his part, he was just glad to have been around for the ride with Vincent’s and Dublin.
“I was actually only talking to Pat Gilroy about it the other week. I don’t think you will ever realise what you did because it’s for the fans, it’s not for us.
“It’s a legacy I suppose we left behind, but for me, it’s more about the Vincent’s thing that we did.
“That would stick in my mind way more than stuff we did with Dublin because it was grown from what we did.
“Like Dublin, I think Pat brought Dublin together and Jim (Gavin) brought it on then, and I think Dessie’s starting to get that momentum back for Dublin, but with Vincent’s …
“I think the Vincent’s thing was … we hadn’t won a championship for (23 years) and we went on to win the All-Ireland, straight off the bat with a brand new team, and we brought that on.
“From my career, that was the best part of it, seeing the progression of the club, rather than the Dublin stuff.
“The Dublin stuff, we were very lucky to be a part of what we were a part of. But the talent that was there, you’re never going to see it again.”
5 Likes
The last maverick
3 Likes
Not sure I’d call Donncadh a goat, but he’s a grand way with words.
Seán Quigley says you can go fuck yourself.
Gilroy is managing Dublin, Vincent’s hurlers and a massive business.
He must never sleep.
If you want something done properly, ask a busy man